Estonian Supreme Court on virtual currencies

Estonian Supreme Court (Riigikohus) has discussed trade in virtual currencies (namely Bitcoins) in its 11 April 2016 decision No 3-2-1-75-15.226 The court found that trading in virtual currencies amounts to trading in alternative means of payment in the meaning of article 6 (4) of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act -- the qualification which has been replaced by the notion of 'virtual currency' under article 3 (9) under the revised Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act.227 This means that trading in virtual currencies amounts to a financial service, the provision of which is subject to authorization requirement and the due diligence requirements as set out in the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (including KYC requirements).